Container and closure



June 23, 1964 w. E. MElssNl-:R

CONTAINER AND cLosuRE Filed Aug. 3, 1962 l/llllll United States PatentOtice e Patented June 23, 1964 Y 3,138,279 p n CONTAINER AND CLOSUREWilliam E. Meissner, Devon, Pa., assignor, by mesne assignments, to FMCCorporation, San Jose, Calif., a corporation of Delaware Filed Aug. 3,1962, Ser. No. 214,609 2 Claims. (Cl. 21S-32) This invention relates tocontainers, particularly molded plastic containers and more especiallyto unitary sealed containers wherein a cap, cover or closure is formedintegrally with the main body of the container or is permanently securedto the main body.

Generally speaking, containers may be classified as two-piece if theyare to be opened by manually separating two distinct elements, eg.,unscrewing a cap or prying off a lid; and as one-piece or unitary ifthey are opened by cutting or tearing or yotherwise rupturing a singlepiece of material forming the entire container and closure. Within thisbroad classification, a container may be considered as one-piece eventhough actually formed of more than onemember, so long as'it is notreadily capable of being or intended to be opened by separating theindividual members. The present invention is directed toward an improvedone-piece or unitary container.

It is an object of this invention to provide an improved unitarycontainer so constructed and arranged that a portion thereof may besevered to gain access to the contents and the severed portion utilizedto reclose the container to protect; the unused contents.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a container of thetype referred to'wherein there is no danger of contaminating the unusedcontents due to contact with the severed portion of the container whenthe severed portion is used as a closure. l

A still further object of the invention is to provide a wide mouthedcontainer which is opened by cutting around the upper portion of thecontainer to provide a severed portion which may be used as a reclosuremember in such manner as to avoid contamination of the contents.

Toward the attainment of the above and other objectives the presentinvention embodies novel features of construction as will now bedescribed with reference to the accompanying drawing showing a preferredembodiment and wherein:

FIG. l is a vertical section of apparatus useful in making the novelcontainer;

FIGS. 2, 3 and 4 are sectional views showing the method of forming thecontainer; and

FIG. 5 is a sectional view of the upper portion of the container showingthe novel manner of using a severed portion thereof as a closure orcover.

Referring first to FIG. 5, the container is indicated generally at andcomprises a main body or receptacle 11 having a substantiallycylindrical neck member 12 around the outside of which extend aplurality, a pair being shown, of circumferential ridges 13 and 14dening a groove therebetween. Formed integrally with neck 12 is a topclosure or cap 16 which extends radially outward from the outer end ofthe neck for a distance such that the diameter of a cylindrical portion17 of the cap is greater than the diameter of the neck and of the outerdiameter of ridges 13 and 14. Cylindrical portion 17 merges with asubstantially flat surface 18 which, as indicated, extends over neck 12at a distance beyond the neck which is greater than the. distancebetween the end of the neck and circumferential ridge 13.

Depending to a certain extent upon the nature of the fluid materialbeing packaged, the container may be formed of any of a wide variety ofplastic materials which when set will form a resilient structure. Toopen the container it is cut with a knife or a special tool provided forthat purpose along the line where the top closure 16 is connected to ormerges with neck 12. This cutting will result in providingan inwardlydirected annular flange 19 on the severed closure 16 and when it isdesired to reclose the container the closure is pressed down around theneck until flange 19 snaps over ridge 13 and into the groove betweenridges 13 and 14, as`shown in dotted lines. The resiliency of theplastic material from which the container is formed permits the closure16 to deform sufficiently forange 19 to pass over the ridge 13 whenforce is applied to the mid-portion of the at surface 1S. To againremove the closure, it is merely necessary to apply an upward forcealong one side of annular flange 19 so that it will be forced over ridge13.

It will be observed that the above described construction is admirablysuited for wide mouthed containers and since it is not necessary for theuser to contact any portion of top 16 which will later be contacted bythe contents the possibility of contaminating the contents is minimized.

If desired, the entire container 10 may be injection molded and thenlledthrough a small needle hole which is later sealed or it may be moldedwithout a bottom, iilled and then supplied with a bottom sealed to themain body of the container. It is also within the purview of theinvention to mold the neck 12 and top cover 16 as one piece and thenattach the neck in a permanent manner to a previously'lilled, open endedreceptacle. Any of these methods of construction will result in aone-piece container within the above broad classification. However, apreferred method of making and iilling the container is illustrated inFIGS. l-4, as will now be described.

The liquid to be packaged is supplied from a container 2t) to a nozzle21 through a three-way valve 22. A concentric device 23 surrounds nozzle21 and a conduit 24 directs a suitable plastic material into saidconcentric device. At the beginning of ythe operation, in a mannerpresently to be described, the plastic material issuing from theconcentric device 23 is pinched together so as to form a plastic mass 25blocking nozzle 21. A two part hinged mold 26 having a molding cavitycorresponding to the desired outer configuration of the container restsupon a vertically reciprocatable platform 27 and the upper walls of saidmold fit snugly about the end of concentric device 23. Thus at thevbeginning of the operation, plastic mass 25 protrudes into the cavityof the mold.

When the fluid `product is admitted through valve 22 it contacts theclosed mass of plastic 25 and expands it into conformity with the moldcavity, additional plastic being admitted through line 24 as the plasticmass expands. The wall thickness of the container is of coursedetermined by the rate at which additional plastic rnaterial issupplied. It is not desirable to till the container above the pointwhere top closure portion 16 joins the neck 12 and therefore prior t-othe time that the mold cavity is completely filled, three way valve 22is operated to shut olf the flow of the liquid product and admit air orother suitable gas under pressure to nozzle 21 through a line 28 leadingto said valve. It is the air pressure which completes the expansion ofthe plastic material into full conformity with its mold cavity.Depending upon the nature of the liquid product, it is also possible tosimultaneously admit the product and air in such proportions that whenthe container is completed, as indicated in FIG. 3, the level of theproduct will settle to a point below the top of the neck portion of thecontainer.

When the mold cavity is thus completely filled, platform 27 is loweredslightly so that the top of the mold is lower than the bottom of nozzle21 and its concentric device 23. A pair of pincher plates 29 and 30 arethen moved together as indicated in FIG. 4 to pinch the plastic and sealthe container and to provide another closed plastic mass 25 for thestart of the next molding and filling operation. If desired the topsurface 18 of the container may be subjected to a finishing operation toremove the evidence of the pinch created by the plates 29 and 30 andprovide the container with the smooth top shown in FIG. 5.

As previously mentioned, a wide variety of plastic materials aresuitable for forming the container. Examples include vinyl resins, suchas polyvinyl acetate, copolymers of vinyl chloride and Vinyl acetate,copolymers of acrylonitrile and vinyl acetate, polyacrylonitrile andcopolymers of acrylonitrile with vinyl chloride, Vinyl acetate,methacrylonitrile, and so forth, polyethylene, linear superpolymers ofthe polyester or nylon (polyamide) type, polyvinyl butyral, polyvinylalcohols, polyvinyl ethers; elastomeric types may include neoprene,polymers of chloroprene, copolymers of butadiene with styrene oracrylonitrile, polyisobutylene, and so forth. It is to be understoodthat the mentioning of these particular materials is not intended tolimit the invention thereto but merely to illustrate the wide variety offilm-forming materials that can be used in carrying out the invention.Of course, the selection of any particular material depends upon thecharacter of the liquid to be packaged. Thus, polyvinyl acetate,polyvinyl acetals and polyvinyl alcohols and neoprene, especially thelatter two types, are highly advantageous when packaging oils especiallyof the hydrocarbon type. Polyvinyl acetate, polyvinyl chloride, relatedcopolymers of these two monomers, and polyethylene are particularlyadaptable to the packaging of aqueous liquids.

The film-forming plastic material may be converted to a fluid by fusionor by the incorporation of plasticizers or solvents capable ofdissolving or dispersing the material. Thus, any of the thermoplasticmaterials may be heated to fusion and the liquid to be packaged may beintroduced into a mass of the fused material preferably at the sametemperature as the fused material. If necessary, the temperature offusion may be lowered by the incorporation of a plasticizer either ofsolid or liquid character. When plasticizers or solvents areincorporated into the plastic material to form the mass, the plasticizeror solvent is preferably insoluble in the liquid to be packaged unlessthe particular use to which the liquid packaged is to be put allows ofthe presence of the plasticizer or solvent that is used. The cooling ofthe fused plastic mass whether it contains or does not contain aplasticizer or plasticizers when the expanded container strikes the wallof the mold serves to set the plastic material into the shape desiredconforming with the wall of the mold. Volatile solvents may be employedfor dissolving or dispersing the film-forming material so that the mass25 may be formed at room temperature and expanded with a liquid at roomtemperature, the setting or coagulation of the expanded containeroccurring by volatilization of the solvent after expansion into themold. Known solvents and plasticizers may be employed, the selectiondepending upon the particular film-forming material to be used. Thusacetone or dioxane may be used for vinyl acetate or copolymers of vinylacetate or vinyl chloride or acrylonitrile. The concentration of thefilm-forming material when a solution thereof is used, is preferably asgreat as possible, the concentration being limited only by the necessitythat the plastic mass expand under the pressure available for exertionupon the liquid during the filling operation.

Having thus described a preferred embodiment of the invention, as wellas a preferred method of making it, what is claimed is:

1. A wide mouthed container closure comprising a substantiallycylindrical neck member connected at one end to a container, acircumferential ridge around the outside of said neck member, said ridgebeing located a predetermined distance from the outer end of said neckmember, a cap formed integrally with said neck member, said capcomprising an annular portion extending radially outward from the outerend of said neck member for a distance such that the outer diameter ofsaid annular portion is greater than the diameter of saidcircumferential ridge, said cap having a cylindrical portion one end ofwhich merges with the outer periphery of said annular portion, the otherend of said cylindrical portion being removed from said one end adistance greater than the distance between said ridge and the outer endof said neck member, and means closing the said other end of saidcylindrical portion.

2. The container closure set forth in claim l comprising a second ridgearound the outside of said neck member, said second ridge being spacedfrom said first mentioned ridge to provide a groove between the tworidges, whereby when said closure is opened by cutting along the linewhere said cap joins said neck member it may be reclosed by snapping thecut portion of the cap into said groove.

References Cited in the file of this patent FOREIGN PATENTS 698,992Great Britain Oct. 28, 1953 1,142,720 France Sept. 20, 1957 70,174France Oct. 20, 1958 2nd add. of 1,147,313

1. A WIDE MOUTHED CONTAINER CLOSURE COMPRISING A SUBSTANTIALLYCYLINDRICAL NECK MEMBER CONNECTED AT ONE END TO A CONTAINER, ACIRCUMFERENTIAL RIDGE AROUND THE OUTSIDE OF SAID NECK MEMBER, SAID RIDGEBEING LOCATED A PREDETERMINED DISTANCE FROM THE OUTER END OF SAID NECKMEMBER, A CAP FORMED INTEGRALLY WITH SAID NECK MEMBER, SAID CAPCOMPRISING AN ANNULAR PORTION EXTENDING RADIALLY OUTWARD FROM THE OUTEREND OF SAID NECK MEMBER FOR A DISTANCE SUCH THAT THE OUTER DIAMETER OFSAID ANNULAR PORTION IS GREATER THAN THE DIAMETER OF SAIDCIRCUMFERENTIAL RIDGE, SAID CAP HAVING A CYLINDRICAL PORTION ONE END OFWHICH MERGES WITH THE OUTER PERIPHERY OF SAID ANNULAR PORTION, THE OTHEREND OF SAID CYLINDRICAL PORTION BEING REMOVED FROM SAID ONE END ADISTANCE GREATER THAN THE DISTANCE BETWEEN SAID RIDGE AND THE OUTER ENDOF SAID NECK MEMBER, AND MEANS CLOSING THE SAID OTHER END OF SAIDCYLINDRICAL PORTION.